Crabtree re-elected

Gateway Mayor Schnitzer unseated

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Mayor Jackie Crabtree was reelected to a fifth term as mayor with 51.55 percent of the votes.

Gateway Mayor Lida Schnitzer was unseated by David White, who received 56.18 percent of the votes. Schnitzer has been mayor since 1989.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve,” Crabtree said. “It’s really humbling to be able to serve.”

A record number of voters - 50.28 percent of the registered 2,176 voters in the city - filled the Emergency Services Community Room in Pea Ridge until well past poll-closing time Tuesday night. Beginning before the doors opened at 7:30 a.m., more than 70 voters lined the sidewalk of the EMS building waiting for polls to open. Throughout the day, a steady rush of area residents showed up to cast their vote in this year’s election. By the end of the evening, 1,268 city residents, county residents and a small number of Little Flockresidents had voted.

Election sheriff Jerry Nichols said the turnout was larger than most: “(Voter turnout) was pretty close to that of the general election of 2008, larger with theturnout late in the day.”

Election workers ran out of paper ballots late in the afternoon, something unusual for this polling location. Of the paper ballots, they had 270 city ballots, 127 county ballots and 11 Little Flock ballots.

“Much of the choice for paper balloting was because voting machines were busy with a line 10 or 12 or longer,” Nichols said.

Crabtree won the race with 564 votes, 51.55 percent. Pea Ridge School Board member Rick Webb received 405 votes,37.02 percent. Boyd McNiel received 6.95 percent and Col. Joe Hart received 4.48 percent.

“Looks like he got it then,” Webb said when told of the vote at 11 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9. “We gave it everything we’ve got.

That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

Webb, school superintendent Mike Van Dyke and Webb’s brother-in-law, John Brown, spent part of Monday evening, Nov. 9, at the Benton County Election office awaiting results.

Crabtree, when he learned of the win election night, said, “We appreciate all the supporters and all the work. I’ll try to do my best and I’ll continue to do that.”

News, Pages 1 on 11/10/2010